Like the Taste of Battery Acid and Broken Glass? Try the 'Ghost Pepper' at Härth

TBD cuts straight to the kicker of WAMU‘s feature on chef Tom Elder‘s hot pepper garden at Härth, a new restaurant in the Hilton McLean. (WaPo gives the place two stars.) And by kicker, we’re talking about one helluva kick. Elder’s most power-packed pepper is the bhut jolokia, or “ghost pepper.” On the Scoville scale, it’s the world’s hottest pepper, packing anywhere from 88 to 177 times as much wallop as the average jalepeño. Elder cites one article suggesting “the heat of the ghost chili is similar to drinking battery acid with shards of glass.” Mmmm….

At Härth, you’ll find the tongue-scorching pepper in soups, ketchup, and marmalade. I suspect you may find traces in the restroom, as well.